


only one man

by Katricia



Series: blood for the blood god [3]
Category: DreamSMP, Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, and how he fits into this au, blood god au, in which i have a lot of thoughts about etho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29621886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katricia/pseuds/Katricia
Summary: Here is what happens: Etho learns that being a Hero is something that will kill you. He learns that sometimes the monsters of the world are not the ones he is asked to kill, that there is evil in everything, but there is also good, and there is kindness and it is not soft to show that kindness to others.
Series: blood for the blood god [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119995
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes when I procrastinate actual writing I write things that will never make it into the actual story but I love them anyways. That's what this is.

Here is how it goes: when you are young, they will tell you that you are going to be a Hero. They will place a sword in your hand and will tell you that you must defend the world. They will set you against monsters and gods and shake their heads when you die young, say it's a shame and ignore that it's their own fault for never teaching you to say no, to value your own life. 

Here is what happens: Etho learns that being a Hero is something that will kill you. He learns that sometimes the monsters of the world are not the ones he is asked to kill, that there is evil in everything, but there is also good, and there is kindness and it is not soft to show that kindness to others. According to some, he is a failure as a hero, because he talks to the people he's meant to kill, because he tries to show compassion to the ones others have rejected. 

His kindness wins him friends, his attitude towards people with unimaginable power means he is blessed, and he doesn't think he can die now. He's been alive for long enough that he stopped counting, and his hair is gray, but the rest of him is the same as ever. 

He shrugs at the mirror and goes about his life. 

Hermitcraft isn't the first place he's been asked to join, isn't the first place he's stayed, either. He knows what Xisuma is, of course he does. He's met gods and monsters, after all, he's fought with them and against them, and he knows better than to think the man is a simple admin. But he also knows that Xisuma is kind and has more interest in making beautiful things than in going down roads Etho has seen others walk. (he has met the Blood God before, has heard of the orphans the man collects, and his heart breaks for them, but he is only one man) Hermitcraft is good, though, and he's made friends, made a home.

He knows what Grian is, when he joins too. (a broken child, twisted into the shape of something else, and once again, his heart breaks) He doesn't know everything, but he pieces enough together to know the basics, to be unsurprised when Grian craves conflict, when he brings war, and Etho loves the other Hermits for the way they twist it into something harmless, something fun and healthy and kind. 

It happens like this: he meets a boy with haunted eyes that say too much and a mouth that has been honed to a razor's edge, familiar power at his fingertips, and Etho thinks there was a time when he would have been called hero for cutting him down. He chose differently then, and he chooses differently now, chooses kindness and soft words and the hope that the boy is willing to change. (he has learned that is all it takes, being willing to make the choice to change, and to continue to make it, everyday) He thinks people have it wrong. Being a hero has nothing to do with slaying monsters or fighting wars or being strong. Being a hero is little things, every day, small kindnesses and reaching out to those around you. It's why he's here, because the Hermits are well-practiced in heroism, and he thinks he can become better by copying them. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Etho complains to Team ZIT about the newest hermitcraft arrivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> felt bad about not posting for awhile, so here's an Etho scene in recompense!  
> fair warning, there is a bit of swearing in this one. also drinking.

Normally Etho is not one to drink. He doesn't mind it, but he's never been one to over-indulge, to spend long hours at the poker bar. Most of the hermits don't, they're usually there to hang out, nothing more.

Normally Etho doesn't have a boy casually mention his own death, doesn't have to listen quietly as he outlines how his own father (however terrible) was the one to kill him. Normally he doesn't have to hear about how a child misses the simplicity of being a ghost, the way things were easier. Normally, he doesn't have the urge to scream and cry and kill a man who's already dead.

"They're fucking  _ kids _ , man. They're kids, what the hell," he moans, half draped over the bar. Impulse, Tango, and Zedaph all glance at each other, then back at him. He had busted up their poker game to complain to them and get steadily drunker, but he still feels he deserves more sympathy.

"Aren't they around Grian's age?" Impulse asks, and Etho squints bleary eyes at him.

"Grian. Is also a child. And he's the oldest." He says, as though it makes no difference, because it doesn't, Grian is young, and so are the rest, and he's so  _ tired  _ of watching children have to grow up too fast. 

"He's not wrong, Grian is what, 23? 24? He's pretty much still a kid," Tango points out, and Etho points at him.

"Exactly! And the rest are younger. Tom-Tommy is only 16, fuck. You know, Wilbur asked me the other day if I thought it was normal that Tommy woke up every night with nightmares? He only asked because I mentioned they were all looking a little tired. I told him no, he comes up  _ five minutes later _ and asks if it's normal for him to have nightmares every night! He's 21, and he's having nightmares about himself dying. I say nightmares, I mean  _ flashbacks _ to when he  _ actually died _ ." He groans again, lays his head on the bar. It's nice and cool against his face, and the silence stretches for a long moment before there's the slosh of his glass being refilled. Zedaph raises a glass to him.

"I think you need more, after that." He says, and he's not wrong, is the thing. Etho knows he's going to feel like shit in the morning, but that's what health potions are for, and he takes another long drink. 

"You know, the little one was hanging around my base the other day. He ran off when he saw me looking, though. He looked nervous, but I didn't notice anything missing." That didn't mean much, with the amount of stuff Tango's base produces, but Etho is at least half sure Tommy didn't steal anything, not when Grian has more resources than he needs. More likely he was hanging around to try to talk, and lost his nerve. 

"Oh, yeah, he was at mine, too. I thought he was lost, but he was poking through some chests. He took off when I said hi, though." Impulse puts in next, and Etho takes another drink, because no. He is already nominally responsible for one bratty child with words too sharp for his mouth, he's not taking another under his wing. 

(He is only one man, he reminds himself, and the world does not fit on his shoulders, no matter how comfortable the weight is.)

"I gave him some honey blocks the other day. Did you know he just eats them?" Zedaph sounds far more delighted than he should, and Tango perks up in interest.

"Like, whole?" He asks, and Etho shudders at the mental image, thankful when Zedaph shakes his head.

"No, he just takes a bite out of it. Like an apple." He describes, and that is...weirder than the first thing, actually.

"D'you think he'd eat a honeycomb block if we gave it to him?" Impulse wonders, and Etho lets his head drop to the bar again. There are worse fates than being nominally adopted by these three, but he's pretty sure Tommy is not going to know what hit him when they descend on him.

It's bound to be hilarious though, and that lifts his mood a little. 

"You see what Technoblade did to False, though? She's gonna have a new scar, I think." Impulse says after a moment of silence, and Etho winces. He's been avoiding the piglin, guilt weighing in the back of his mind keeping him from approaching. He's afraid of recognition, more afraid of none, and even if Techno doesn't blame him for not doing more the one time they met, he can blame himself enough for both of them. 

"I don't think he knows what a friendly spar is. False said he acted like it was a death match. Might as well have been, I guess." Zedaph mutters the last bit, and he's not wrong. Etho hadn't seen it happen, but he's seen the aftermath, a ropey scar that runs up the side of False's neck, proof of a death that even infinite respawns can't quite erase. She hasn't seemed to mind too much, at least, and Wilbur was quiet the next day, like he was thinking through something difficult.

"What kind of server did these kids come from, anyways? Pure anarchy?" Tango asks, and Etho snorts, because he wishes it was something as simple as the being the server they came from.

"I think the server was fine before they showed up, actually." He says dryly, not lifting his head, and silence reigns for a long moment. 

"Are you saying it's their own fault?" Impulse asks, a note in his voice that says he's not angry yet, but he's strongly considering it, and Etho wants to scream, wants to cry, wants to kill a man already dead.

"No, they were made into this by someone else. Bastard wanted an army, I think. Or something like it. Who the fuck knows, maybe he was just lonely." He doesn't know, and he lifts his head just enough to drop it with a satisfying  _ thunk.  _ Silence reigns for a long moment. 

"What about Grian?" The question is quiet, and Etho tilts his head so he can see them with one eye, sadness welling up in his throat at the memory of Grian panicking, of his floor wrecked around him, of Wilbur close to the same levels of panic.

"Grian. Is probably stronger than any of us." He says, and it's the truth. Sometimes escaping takes more strength than staying, and he doesn't know the whole story, but he knows Grian got away, and in the end, that's what counts. There's another long silence, then Zedaph refills their glasses, knocks his own back.

"Fuck." He says, and that really does sum it up quite nicely, Etho thinks. 


End file.
